The Israeli prime minister held a news conference with foreign journalists in order to “puncture the lies” of Hamas, he said.
Expanded military operation
There are still “thousands” of Hamas fighters in Gaza and given the group’s “refusal to lay down its arms, Israel has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas”, he said.
Two strongholds remain – Gaza City and the Central Camps of the Mwas – and the Israeli government has instructed the IDF to attack them, he said.
The plan has not yet been discussed with Donald Trump, Netanyahu said.
He said the IDF would enable civilians to “safely leave”.
‘The day after’
“Our goal is not to occupy Gaza. Our goal is to free Gaza,” said Netanyahu.
He spoke of a demilitarised Gaza with a non-Israeli civilian administration after the war, while Israel maintained “overriding security responsibility”.
That administration will not be the Palestinian Authority, he said, but “there are candidates” in mind.
Denies Israel starving Gazans
Netanyahu was questioned over Israel’s 11-week blockade of humanitarian aid and the IPC’s report that famine was unfolding in Gaza.
“Israel has let in close to two million tons of aid,” he said.
Most aid organisations say the amount of aid being allowed into Gaza is far below what is needed.
“If we had a starvation policy, no one in Gaza would have survived after two years of war,” said Netanyahu.
He said Hamas has been looting aid trucks and that uncollected food has been “rotting” at the border, blaming the UN for not distributing it.
The Israeli leader said he was “designating safe corridors for aid distribution” and increasing the number of distribution points managed by the Gazan Humanitarian Foundations.
These aid sites, run by a controversial US and Israeli-backed group, have become scenes of “orchestrated killing”, according to the charity Doctors Without Borders.
Attacks media
Netanyahu criticised the international media for covering starvation in Gaza, giving three examples of what he called fake photographs of starving children.
“I’m looking right now into the possibility of a governmental suit against the New York Times because this is outrageous.”
He continues: “The only ones that are being deliberately starved in Gaza are our hostages.”
